(no subject)

[proximoception]

Borges:

The second time--"And miles to go before I sleep"--we are made to feel that the miles are not only in space but in time, and that "sleep" means "die" or "rest." Had the poet said so in so many words, he would have been far less effective. Because, as I understand it, anything suggested is far more effective than anything laid down. Perhaps the human mind has a tendency to deny a statement. Remember what Emerson said: arguments convince nobody. They convince nobody because they are presented as arguments. Then we look at them, we weigh them, we turn them over, and we decide against them.

But when something is merely said or--better still--hinted at, there is a kind of hospitality in our imagination. We are ready to accept it.

Comments

[nightspore.livejournal.com]

Oh, yeah? Says who?

Actually I think a lot of the force of deconstructive/theoretical readings of literature -- readings which stress an essentially philosophical cognitive power to poetry, as in de Man -- comes from the fact that we're ready to embrace elusive arguments once we understand them. Not only ready, but eager. The ground we've won seems ground worth keeping.

[proximoception.livejournal.com]

Hopefully he means in art only, and something like "entertain" by "accept." The meaning of the passage for me is that no one will like me for arguing with them--a thing I tend to forget.

I think you're right about theoretical readings, except I wouldn't describe those as arguments. They're not propositional, they're inevitably systems, or fragments of systems, designed to replace or rival argument/logic. You have to sieze them at both ends, superimpose them on the life in front of you, rather than build to them from clean premises. And there's two necessary components to their appeal, I think: the one you describe, where you hold onto what you've worked to make any kind of sense of; and whatever you think the system promised at the outset. The second can fall away, like support rockets, when you finally get some sense of the theory. Which may be a good thing, because I'm not aware of any that does anything like what aspirants expect of it. Most are mythologies trying to talk their way into science.

[franklinshepard.livejournal.com]

Hey, for some reason I just got your comment asking about musical recommendations in my email today...don't know how that happened. Anyway, here are some good choices, for dark modern musicals:

Assassins (about Presidential assassins)
Marie Christine (setting Medea in the South at the turn of the century)
Parade (the lynching of Leo Frank)
Floyd Collins (famous story of the caver who was trapped; same story was filmed by Billy Wilder as Ace in the Hole)
The Wild Party (about true connection during a night of incest, drugs, and liquor. If you're planning on getting CDs, look for the Broadway version, not the Off-Broadway version.)
Sweeney Todd (currently on Broadway, as seen in my icon; about the infamous murderous barber)

There are a few great shows. Well, Marie Christine isn't my favorite, but it's still worthwhile for the most part. Also, I don't know where you live, but the musical version of Light in the Piazza is airing on PBS sometime in June (maybe the 15th?) and although that story's not exactly dark, at least it's intelligent and moving, two things that many people don't associate with musical theatre.

Proposal

[livingfossil.livejournal.com]

Proximo, I am interested in a collaborative (art) project of sorts; one that will attempt to investigate the process of argumentation, and how that ties into what people believe to be true. I proposed this to John (of commonplacebook and sweet-nothing) and asked if he knew anyone else who would be interested; he mentioned that you might. If you are, or would like to know more, please email me: livingfossil at gmail dot com.